Mumbai Indians will be out to prove that they still have it in them to stage sensational turnarounds when they take the field against Delhi Capitals in Sharjah on Saturday. They have done it in the past, but somehow the mountain looks steeper this time.

After a string of losses, the Rohit Sharma-led team registered a six-wicket win over Punjab Kings in their last match. Will they be able to build on that momentum?

Delhi have been one of the better sides of this edition of the IPL and have already pocketed 16 points from 11 games. But they were overpowered and outplayed by the Kolkata Knight Riders in their last game. That gives Mumbai an opening to corner them.

Mumbai’s main problem has been their batting. While openers Rohit and Quinton de Kock haven’t got big scores, they haven’t done too badly either. But the other batsmen have looked ordinary, especially Suryakumar Yadav. ‘SKY’, as he is fondly called, has had scores of 0, 8, 5, 3 in the ongoing UAE leg of the IPL, quite contrasting to the form which earned him a place in India’s T20 World Cup squad.

Saurabh Tiwary and Hardik Pandya got runs in their last match, but that might not be enough every time.

Delhi, on the other hand, will hope that the setback in the last game was one-off. Rishabh Pant’s team will try to regain their winning touch as they aim for a top-two finish in the group stage.

Aussie Steve Smith did well as the injured Prithvi Shaw missed the last game. The likes of Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer and Pant himself should be confident of a good show despite Mumbai’s strong bowling attack comprising Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult and Rahul Chahar.

Delhi’s bowling too has a lot of variety with pace and spin balanced well. If Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje can set the speed guns blazing, Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel are masters of spin. The spotlight will be on Ashwin after yet another of his run-ins with the ‘spirit of cricket’ traditionalists in the last match.

The match will perhaps also be a test of Pant’s captaincy. Everything looked fine when his team was doing well, but now, after a loss, there is always the danger of slipping further. Even minor errors in strategies can backfire in a major way. Is young Pant ready?

Today’s matches

⚫ Mumbai Indians vs Delhi Capitals, Sharjah (3.30pm IST)

⚫ Rajasthan Royals vs Chennai Super Kings, Abu Dhabi (7.30pm IST)